setting up acoustic walls for vocal recording

[Ajak]

hello TB,

I'm planning to do a big mic shoot-out with some singers (classical, jazz, metal). For that I'll use the studio we have at music school. It has a very nice and well-treated recording room which is (I'm estimating) 20 by 30 feet. There are also 6 (I think) movable acoustic walls around that measure 6-7 by 4 feet. They have one absorbing side and one with a surface that consists to maybe 90-95% of wood.

I've never recorded vocals in such a professional environment. What makes sense? Standing in the center of the room or more towards the wall? In which direction to sing? Using the movable walls or not? If yes how?
I will try out some options when I'm there, but there are so many possibilities... I'll need something to start with. How would you do it?

How about acoustic instruments? If there's any time left I'll try to record violin, accordeon and some zithers.

Thanks already,
Ajak

 

[EastCoastThump]

If the room sounds terrible, you could position the gobos (soft side facing the singer) to mimic an isolation booth. Then add reverb to taste.

But if your room sounds good, use your ears to position singer and mic. Engineers who have tracked projects there can probably suggest where they've gotten good results.

 

[tmdazed]

sound studio construction on a budget by Everett Books is a great resource, will list techniques and materials and instruction on how to tune a room